75% of employment in Ireland requires some level of green skills

SOLAS/30.04.2025

SOLAS has launched their Quarterly Skills Bulletin which measures the demand for green skills in the Irish labour market. This first of its kind report, compiled by the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) in SOLAS, measures the level of green employment in Ireland during of the last quarter of 2024 and sheds light on some of the main occupations and sectors that are currently engaged in green-related activities.

The most common sectors engaged in green activities in Ireland include industry, professional activities, agriculture and construction sectors, with green skills rating highly amongst jobs including engineers, organisational analysts, and restaurant managers. The report also examines online job adverts where at least one green skill was mentioned; this data indicates the roles for which green skills are most in demand by employers.

Key Findings from the Report:

In 2024, 75% of employment in Ireland required some level of green skills:

  • Approximately 400,000 people were in green employment

  • 120,000 were in agriculture roles, 280,000 were in non-agriculture roles

 

Those in non-agriculture green employment:

  • Increased annual growth rate: A higher annual average growth rate in green employment of 6.4% over the previous five years compared to national average of 3.4% - this translates to an additional 75,000 persons employed

  • Most common green sectors included industry, professional activities and construction sectors

  • Most common green occupations: professional or managerial occupations (e.g. engineers, environmental professionals, organisational analysts, manufacturing managers, restaurant managers)

  • science & engineering roles accounted for the largest share of green employment, followed closely by business & sales-related roles

  • Gender: 68% were male (compared to 53% for national employment)

  • Level of Qualification: 69% held third level qualifications (compared to 54% for national employment); a further quarter held higher secondary/FET qualifications

The share of online job adverts that mentioned a green skill has increased over time, particularly for those roles linked to green employment. In the latest data, environmental engineering skills were the predominant skill mentioned in online job adverts followed by science-related and corporate social responsibility skills.

Speaking about the report Joan McNaboe, Research Manager of the SLMRU said: 

“This report highlights that green skills are impacting most jobs in Ireland to some degree, even those not typically associated with the climate action agenda. Green employment has grown at a far higher rate than the national average which means that demand for green skills is likely to continue to increase.” 

“Green skills are constantly evolving which means the green intensity of roles will continue to change in the coming years. As such, further education and training provision will also need to keep pace to ensure Ireland is meeting its targets for the green skills agenda.”

Also commenting on the report, Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS said: 

“We are delighted to see the publication of this report as it enhances our understanding of the jobs and sectors that are currently engaged in green-related activities in Ireland. It will provide a valuable resource in the future planning of FET provision ensuring that we cater to the green skills that will be needed by the population in in the coming years.”

“Our ambition for the future of FET is that we become a leader in sustainability and that every FET learner is equipped with the skills to become agents of change in climate action. This will ensure that that we have a resilient, dynamic and skilled workforce and that FET can provide solutions to respond to the sustainable challenges facing enterprise today and well into the future.”

Read the full report at: https://a.storyblok.com/f/70398/x/32e11311e8/spring-skills-bulletin-2025.pdf